Expecting the Unexpected

Breaking Stereotypes

Illustration by Luis Perez

Throughout the history of gaming, written fantasy, and science fiction there have always been conventions. We mostly go about calling the tropes these days, but some things just have a deep-seated history of being so. Some tropes like ‘you all meet in a tavern’ are easily broken, or used and expanded upon. But when some things - especially making characters - become commonplace, it’s hard to break the stereotypes.

The divide between who is good and who is evil is often hotly debated. Even in games where there is no alignment system, a line is drawn between good guys and bad guys. For many people, but not all, a creature’s race determines whether it is a good guy or a bad guy. Goblins, kobolds, and orcs among others sit firmly on the bad guy side. And although games like Pathfinder very specifically indicate that not every member of every race has the same alignment, many people gloss over this fact.

Going against convention in this manner can often be fun. The good orc or goblin can add a little something different; if your GM lets you break the mold of traditional races choices that is. Going the other way can often be fun too. Evil, and not drow, elves can throw people for a loop. As a GM I’ve used innocent seeming halflings as the bad guys to great effect. Many times tieflings are thought of as leaning toward evil and aasimar toward good because of their respective outside blood. Like this week’s randomly rolled character breaking the norm and playing a wholly evil aasimar can shake things up.

Breaking moral norms also goes hand-in-hand with breaking cultural norms. Orcs and their half-orc kin are often thought of as savage brutes. Playing an erudite character from any race that is traditionally thought of as savage can throw people’s perceptions for a loop. As can an elf that is more at home in a crowded city than a forest or a dwarf that’s claustrophobic and hates being underground. And my favorite has always been savage little Halfling barbarians.

Race and class stereotypes are also a thing. 1st and 2nd edition D&D set the tone by restricting what classes certain races could take and how far they could go. As a side note, the woodlands-loving elves couldn’t be druids, which I always found odd. Even after these limits were taken out people still had this feeling that some of these limitations should remain, like dwarves shouldn’t be arcane spellcasters. Even in non-D&D games like Shadowrun, which didn’t have restrictions at all, you’d see people cleave to stereotypes; troll Street Samurai ‘cause they’re strong, dwarven Deckers ‘cause technology is the new smithing.

For me, I like to break these norms often, even so far as taking classes that don’t necessarily sit well with a race’s stat modifiers. You’ll hear a lot of people tell you that dwarves shouldn’t play sorcerers because of the negative to their charisma, or that elves shouldn’t be barbarians because of their constitution negative. These are exactly the types of characters I love to play because they aren’t the same ones that everyone else plays.

Even within class there are many tropes to which we cleave. The sneaky rogue, the white knight paladin, the savage barbarian, and many others are done time and time again. One of my own recent favorite characters is the rogue brute. He’s an intimidation monster with impressive strength who hits things really hard after he scares them. Neal Litherland – friend of the CRB – has done some oddball class concepts over on his blog Improved Initiative. Check out the unexpected barbarian and the savage wizard and see what I mean.

Sometimes sticking with the tried and true works. That dwarven fighter with a Scottish accent, who loves a good drink and wields an axe can go a long way. But sometimes we need to step out of our comfort zones and try something new and different. Whether you’re playing D&D/Pathfinder or one of the myriad other games out there, role playing is our opportunity to really get creative.

What stereotypes have you gone against? Which ones do you think should remain strong? As a GM do you like to throw the unexpectedly different at you players? As a player do you try and talk your GM into letting you try something new?

Hopefully the CRB helps you reach out and try new and unexpected things. Creating content is a second, non-paying full-time job. Creators can focus on bringing you the content you deserve when they don’t have to worry about keeping the lights on.  If the CRB has enhanced your gaming experience, please consider contributing to my Patreon for as little as $1 a month. Or if a one-time donation is more your speed try my Paypal.

You can also join the growing community of CRB readers. We have a presence on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is always open so feel free to ask questions, leave comments, or start discussions.

The opening illustration was created by the fine artist Luis Perez. You can find him on Twitter, Tumblr, and on Instagram at luisperezart. 

Water Water Everywhere

The Sea Is More Than Pirates

Illustration by Luis Perez

People love a good campaign based around pirates. Paizo has made not one but two Adventure Paths - Skulls and Shackles and Serpent’s Skull - as well as at least one module with pirates as the theme. Chris Jackson has contributed their splat book on ships as well as written three book series about the crew of the Stargazer. Seafaring seems to be pretty popular in Pathfinder, and with the new 7th Sea book which came out last year I think it's pretty popular across game platforms.

Pirates, however, aren't the only people sailing the seas of the world. There are plenty of other types of ships to ply the waters that your players might enjoy playing, or to feature as enemies. Using Golarion as an example Andoran, Cheliax, Qadira, and Taldor all have massive navies. Games set around being a crewman on any one of these seagoing vessels could be quite interesting. It is a slightly more structured lifestyle than being on a pirate ship but you're far less likely to get a knife in the back for your share of plunder.

If you'd like a mix of pirates and legitimate naval fleets maybe it’s time to live the life of a privateer. Letters of Marque given to buccaneers allowed them to prey on ships of enemy countries. Taldor relies on these legal pirates to patrol the river that runs between the empire and Qadira. Even Andoran uses privateers to attack the slaver ships of Okeno, and occasionally vessels from Cheliax. Even though Cheliax is considered an evil nation they are all about order and they despise both pirates and privateers.

In the northern waters you have the Ulfen raiders. Not as active as they once were, still some clans of the Ulfen from both the Land of the Linnorm Kings and the Ironbound Archipelago continue the tradition of raiding coastal villages and towns. Different from pirates who usually attack other ships, these raiders are also usually a family or clan, which has a different dynamic than the 'every man for himself' rule of a pirate ship.

Slavers are feared across the inner sea region. The yellow-sailed ships of the slavers of the Katapeshi island of Okeno strike terror even into the hearts of hardened pirates. Using these foul folk as a foil to your sea bound players could lead to many interesting games. Be careful though, slavery is a tough subject for some so choose your use of slavers judiciously.

No matter what kind of seafaring game you end up playing, a lot of folk who end up on boats for a living grew up around them. We need to consider where characters learned to sail in the first place. Fisherfolk, merchant vessels, and transport ships are all perfect places for sea bound characters to have gotten their start. Children of people who make a living off the sea often find a way out onto the waters themselves.

One need not have ever been on a boat to know a lot about them. There is a lot of support that goes into the seafaring. Harbors and docks are filled with shipwrights, sailmakers, and cordonniers. If your parents were dockworkers, harbormasters, or even a barkeep in a dockside tavern there is a good chance you'll have some knowledge of seafaring.

On Golarion you also have deities that deal with waters and seafaring; Gozreh in her female aspect of goddess of the sea, Besmara the goddess of pirates,  Hei Feng the Tian god of the seas. Other than these major and minor deities there are a few Demon Lords, Infernal Dukes, and Empyreal Lords that deal with aspects of life at sea or on the coasts. Deciding which deity a character pays homage to gives a good idea of how they feel about the sea.

So, there’s more to just sailing the seas than being a pirate. Whether you’re playing in or running a game based on a ship there’s a lot to consider, and not just what you do on the boat. How did you learn to sail? What do you do on land? What job do you have onboard? Which deity do you pray to to keep you safe?

The open waters have been a source of wonder for ages, and hopefully the CRB brings you that same sense of excitement and adventure. Contributing to my Patreon is a great way to help support the CRB, giving me the time write the content you enjoy and do things like replace the cracked screen on my laptop. If a onetime donation is more your speed consider contributing a donation via my paypal.

The CRB has a growing community of followers and you can find us on Facebook, Google +, Tumblr, and Twitter. Check out some of the art I share and the conversations that pop up. Feel free to drop me a line on any of those platforms with questions or comments. My inbox is always open.

The opening illustration was created by the fine artist Luis Perez. You can find him on Twitter, Tumblr, and on Instagram at luisperezart.

Age Is Just A Number

Playing Older Characters

In some games starting or level one characters tend to be fresher-faced farm kids right out of the fields. In D&D and Pathfinder first level characters have years of training in their chosen field and in comparison to common folk are near superheroes. In most instances, however, the characters we see are comparatively young, late teens to early twenties in most fantasy settings. In modern settings you rarely see someone’s starting level character over the age of thirty. Why do we choose not to play older characters?

In 3.5 and Pathfinder aging comes with penalties to physical stats and bonuses to the mental ones. Ages are separated into categories and given cumulative stat modifications at each age group. Other systems have other mechanics. Ars Magic has you roll to see if you lose a stat, the roll is modified by your age, and then roll again to see which stat. Although many games don’t see you living long enough to even have a mechanic for aging.

I think we like to see our characters as young and spry and the idea of being old confounds a lot of gamers. Why would a forty-year-old pick up his things and begin the life of an adventurer? Along with their diversity in gender and sexuality, among their iconic characters Paizo has also added more diverse age ranges. The iconic wizard Ezren became a 1st level wizard at age forty-two. Quinn, the Iconic investigator, took up his path at age thirty-seven. Both of these characters are good examples of why a character might become an adventurer late in life.

Becoming an adventurer usually requires some kind of impetus. For younger characters this impetus is many times the search for fame and glory. We also often see younger characters as thrill seekers or those who choose to test themselves. Older characters can have different types of pushes to wander off into the wilds. The loss of friends or family can push one to make a change of pace. The end of a long career might see them seeking one last hurrah. Some may be searching for a way to stem aging or become immortal, either literally or figuratively.

What can sometimes be daunting for players is coming up with the longer background an older character might require. It’s easy to say that your nineteen-year-old fighter is just a poor street rat who’s good with a sword. But an aged character has lived part of a life. What has he been doing all this time? Where did she work? What connections did he make in the world?

As an example one of the other players in my Rise of the Runelord game is an older human. He’s a former soldier who has just recently retired but isn’t ready to give up that life. He finds it hard to fit into day-to-day life and adventuring is the easiest way to keep the lifestyle to which he has become accustomed. It was an interesting character choice with a lot of great roleplay potential and certainly not something you see in many games.

The next time you’re making your character consider playing someone of advanced age. It doesn’t even have to be human; think about the possibilities of an older age elf or dwarf. Consider the life your character would have had before adventuring and why he would make his way into the world after all this time. I think my next character will be an older gnome.

Would you play an older character? What reasons do you think older characters would have to adventure? Why do you think most people don’t even consider playing older characters? How old is too old to be off on a quest?

The CRB ages too and we are just about a year old now. If you’ve enjoyed the CRB throughout the course of the last year consider donating to my Patreon. Your contributions are what allow me to invest so much time in putting out the content you love. And if you want more from the CRB, join me on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. The community of CRB followers grows every day and you can be a part of the conversations. My inbox is always open on any of those platforms as well.

May I Have Your Attention Please

I always tell folks that playing RPGs is like telling a story. You have protagonists, antagonists, and plot elements. The thing that separates a RPG from a standard story is the players. For many GMs the whims of the player are easy enough to work around;  you adjust the plot as the players affect the world. What isn’t easy to work around is keeping your players interested.

So you’ve set up your game for the week. This session is supposed to be thick on horror. You aren’t just throwing monsters and demons at your players, you’ve carefully chosen music and evocative descriptions of the area. You don’t just give your players sights but sounds, smells, and even emotions. You describe a room and then one player says, “Sorry, I wasn’t listening.”

The thing about players is they each have different levels of attentiveness as well as differences in which moods evoke what for them. This means the guy who’s super interested when you’re in the ruins and discussing the mosaic on the wall and its history may not be the guy who’s interested in why he has a chill in his bones while walking through a haunted house. You just aren’t going to be able to capture everyone at every turn.

When writing a book you don’t need to worry about the person reading it, they can pick it up and put it down on a whim. When running a game though, you are trying to keep the attention of a handful of players and that’s no small feat. The larger the group the tougher the feat is. I cap out at six and even I can’t always keep everyone focused. As a GM it can get frustrating.

The question becomes how do you handle this? The answer isn’t simple or one size fits all. Some folks get bored when they aren’t the center of attention. This is probably the hardest group to deal with because in a group setting you cannot always be the center of attention. Assuming these people aren’t otherwise disruptive players, a reminder to stay focused will usually suffice.

The second type of person returns to mood. Some people just don’t enjoy certain types of moods or themes. As a GM you need to know your group, not just as a party but as individuals. In settings where you know one or two players aren’t going to be into that theme or that mood you may want to keep that portion of the game shorter.

Sometimes the hardest person to deal with is the one who doesn’t do it on purpose. I play with plenty of younger players as I enjoy teaching the game. I also find that some of the older players may have ADHD or similar traits. When not immediately invested in something, or after long (which is relative) periods of time these players will just naturally lose attention. I find that breaks help a lot. Knowing how often to give breaks is more of an art than a science but after a while you figure it out.

We’ve all heard horror stories about the guy at your table who sits with his nose buried in his phone while you’re gaming. And this guy could be any one of the three types of inattentive players I’ve mentioned. Now multiply that exponentially when you play online. Your players are setting in front of the biggest time sink on the face of the planet with all the information known to man at their fingertips. It is incredibly easy to lose their attention.

Now don’t get me wrong I love online play, my games are almost exclusively online now. I have a Shattered Star game I run, imperfectly, and the Rise of the Runelords game in which I play an investigator. While I find online play adds quite a lot of positive aspects, it does come with its own pitfalls. Keeping everyone’s attention is one of them.

Whether you’re playing online or in person I think the single biggest way deal with attentiveness is through talking. It’s easy to get frustrated as a GM and if a lot of the online discussions I see are any indication there tends to be a combative tone between many players and GMs. At the end of your game, talk to your players about what they liked and disliked. Knowing your players is key to keeping their attention. During these discussions is the time for you to express your feelings as well. It is perfectly OK to say, “Hey guys I put dozens of hours into this and it feels like some of you aren’t paying attention. It’s a little frustrating to me. Are there things I could do to help keep you invested?” Talking will always be your single most valuable tool.

So GMs new and old, it happens to all of us. As a player I’ve also been the inattentive one, some days you just don’t concentrate well. Remember the keys are to know your players, assess where issues are on your end, and talk about the issues you are having with your players.

Have you had issues with player attentiveness? Have you been a player who hasn’t been able to stay invested? How do you address these issues in your game, as a player or GM?

You’ve been paying enough attention to make it this far. If the CRB has managed to keep you coming back for more think about contributing to my Patreon. And if the CRB has left you wanting for more, pop on over to our social media outlets. Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter all have a CRB presence. And of course my inbox is open on any of those mediums for questions or comments.

Cult of Personality

Alignment, one of the biggest divisive issues in gaming. Argued about, not just in games that use the alignment system, but among all gamers. The thing is, I think a lot of people have a very narrow view of what alignment represents. They see alignment as a cage that traps a player into being a certain thing all the time. Personally, I think that misses some fundamental points and I’m going to touch on few of them today.

The first thing I want to talk about is the fact that a lot of people think your alignment determines what you do. The truth of the matter is that what you do determines your alignment. This is one of the reasons  the first thing I do is determine how he would react to certain situations when working on a new character. Seeing what he would do when tough choices need to be made helps me make a determination as to what alignment he might be.

I really enjoy one of the alternate methods proposed in Pathfinder Unchained.  These alternate alignment rules start all players at True Neutral, except in cases where the class has alignment restrictions. From there the character’s actions determine their placement on the alignment scale. This allows the player to settle into the alignment that closest suits the character’s actions.

Speaking of actions, some think that every little action determines alignment movement. Really, it is the tough moral challenges and dilemmas. Not paying your fine once doesn’t change the fact that you’re lawful. Turning yourself in for a crime you didn’t commit to try and prove your innocence would shift you toward being lawful. The tough moral decisions, the things that could be detrimental to you even if you do them, these are the things that make us who we are.

The last thing I want to talk about is alignment and personality. Too often people feel you can only play an alignment one way. As much as I hate the sentiment, because usually it means people want to be a jerk to the rest of the party, Lawful Good does not equal Lawful Nice. Your chaotic evil character is allowed to love animals. He’s allowed to have a wife and kid. Your alignment does not equal your personality; it may in cases influence it but it does not determine it. I’ve even already taken a stab at non-psychotic ways to play Chaotic Neutral.

Alignment may not be for you and that’s fine. There are plenty of games that don’t use it. And the same alternative rules sections posits ways to remove alignment. But if you do want to use the alignment system or you’re even on the fence about it, maybe these musings will help you get a better grip on how you can use alignment in your game.

Do you use alignment? Would these ideas make you reconsider using alignment if you don’t? How have you used alignment in your game? Do you enforce alignment shifts only on major moral dilemmas, or for every little action?

Looking at gaming ideas from another angle is what the CRB is all about. If the CRB has helped you look at something new and differently then please consider contributing to my Patreon. And don’t forget to check out the video message from me to you on the Patreon homepage. If you’d like to chime in with the rest of the CRB community check us out on Google+, Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Feel free to ask any questions, I’m more than happy to give more personalized advice on any gaming topic.

Putting a Little Meat on Those Bones

So you’ve gotten a basic character idea, maybe a bit of a character history, maybe even more than a bit. You’ve thrown some dice and configured the mechanical aspects of your character, but it’s still missing something. You want to hammer out a complete personality. Sure, we know he was a former military man and this is borne out in his background and his stats, but how does that affect how he acts within gameplay? How do we flesh-out the character we’ll be playing, and not just their history and their mechanics.

For some of you this will be old hat, and hopefully you can add anything you  think I’ve missed. To others this may include new ideas. To other, newer gamers, this may be your first foray into the wider world of character development. Keep in mind I have only so much space and my own personal experience, so I may not touch on every possible way to explore your character. Think of this as a starter article, which hopefully other gamers will be able to expand upon.

When forming the personality you want to look at some general traits and determine how they translates into your character’s behavior. If your character is an older military veteran you’ve got a few broad categories to work with. The first broad concept is "older." What does being older mean to your character? Is he a “Hey, you kids, get off my lawn” kind of old or is he the “I know more, so let me show these kids how it’s done” kind of old. One is a complainer and the other is a teacher but both are more well defined than just saying “older”.

Stats, especially but not exclusively mental stats, can help guide your character's personality. Just look at the basic D&D and Pathfinder stats, they each represent a number of different traits. Charisma could be good looks, natural charm, or just someone who is well spoken. Just saying that your character is charismatic means little, how is he charismatic? Even physical stats can help guide a character’s personality. A high dex probably means the ability to physically wiggle one’s way out of trouble. Personality wise this could mean a slippery character, one who would rather run or avoid a fight than face one head on.

Other mechanical aspects can help define your character’s personality. When I played a lot of World of Darkness, Eidetic Memory was one of my favorite character traits. This can’t just be about the mechanical advantage of remembering everything. How does this affect how your character interacts with the world? Some of my characters got frustrated with people who couldn’t keep other people’s names straight. Other times it would be that the character would concentrate on some areas of life so hard that he would ignore others.

Another example of translating mechanics into character personality traits is my current Rise of the Runelords character, who is an Aasimar. He has an alternate racial ability to quickly and efficiently learn languages. And, sure, as a mechanical effect, he gets two languages for every linguistics skill point. But how does this manifest in character? I decided he would always speak with a perfect accent and quickly learn the customs of the races whose languages he’s learned. This is how you turn a purely mechanical advantage into a roleplaying opportunity.

Are there a million other ways to make basic background information and mechanical notes into a character? Sure there are hundreds, thousands. There is no one way to flesh out your character into an actual person. There are many ways to create the person you will become for the hours that you are at your gaming table. Hopefully these ideas will get you thinking about what kind of person your character is and how they present themselves to the world.

How do you flesh out your character for actual play? How do you decide on quirks and personality traits? How do numbers on your sheet translate into the actions your character chooses to perform?

Just as the CRB attempt to help flesh out your gaming experience, you can help flesh out my ability to have time to produce the content you love. Consider becoming a contributor on my Patreon and check out a special video message on the main page of my Patreon site. Also join the growing CRB community on social media. G+, Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter all have a CRB presence. See what everyone else is saying and feel free to drop me a line with any questions, comments or requests.

Keeping the Dungeon in Dungeons and Dragons

Crypts, cave systems, sewers, abandoned castles. The traditional dungeon crawl seems to be getting a bad rap recently. But why is it okay to continue having the exploration of these contained spaces, usually full of monsters, remain a central part of the modern RPG?

Many people think that most players view killing creatures as the quickest way to gaining power. They see these dungeons, full of adversaries, as just another method for these murderhobos to get their monster-slaying jollies. The truth is, you can make it through a dungeon without killing a large portion of its inhabitants—if you, as the DM, give your players creatures to negotiate with.

I've been running one of Paizo's adventure paths for my group for the past two years. Like most canned adventures, it has a lot of RP possibilities built into the towns, cities, and villages that the players start and end in; which ends up bookending dungeon runs. In the second book of this AP there was one giant multi-level dungeon in which players had to delve. Although there were combats, the players also found instances where they were able to negotiate past a few battles. Because they were good aligned, they ended up dealing mostly non-lethal damage to and taking prisoner most sentient humanoid creatures instead of killing them.

One of the other major problems people have with dungeon crawls is not that they tend to be rooms strung together with combat situations, but these combats can take an inordinate amount of time to run. It bothers some gamers that a week’s worth of in-game RP, investigation, and character development may take one gaming session. Meanwhile the combats in a dungeon delve that takes in-game one or two days can take real-time up to two or three sessions.

This isn't an easy problem to solve. The system inherently has more rules for combat because RP doesn't actually require that many rules. I don't need rules to know how to speak in character or affect an accent.  Combat, however, has so many nuances and rules were designed so it doesn't devolve into childhood sessions of "I hit you." "Oh no you didn't." The rules intended to keep combat fair and balanced also make combat more time consuming.

There are ways to streamline D&D and Pathfinder combat. Pathfinder Unchained outlines a number of ways to reduce the actions people get during combat, although some of it comes down to GM and player preparedness. Having your action ready for your turn and the GM knowing all of the monsters’ abilities can help move combat along pretty quickly.

That said, Dungeons and Dragons and by extension Pathfinder has always been a game of dungeon crawls with combats. Looking back at modules from first and second edition you can see that modern modules follow the same formula these old modules had, of large RP sessions in a town punctuated by long dungeon crawls. This is nothing new. Claims that this wasn't the way gaming was back then and that video game culture has somehow made it this way is denying gaming's true past and looking back at it through rose-colored glasses.

That doesn't mean that there aren't ways to game that are less punctuated with these large dungeons. There are many other systems that make social interaction and role playing their central or only focus.  Pathfinder and D&D are not those games, however and to think they should be is disingenuous to their history. Pathfinder's system works as intended. Claims that it is broken because it doesn't do something as well as games that are geared to do that specific thing is like whining a wrench is broken because it can't remove a Phillips head screw. There are many different ways to game and you need the right tool for the right job.

All in all, I enjoy the dungeon crawl, which is why I enjoy Pathfinder as a system. It has begun to incorporate more and more avenues for in-game social interaction. The new book, Ultimate Intrigue, attempts to deal with the idea of social combat as well as outlining ways to write adventures that are more roleplay oriented than your standard dungeon delve. Although it will probably never be the best system for this job, it can still get the job done to some degree.

How have you explored social interaction in Pathfinder or D&D? What systems do you prefer, if others, for less combat oriented games? Are you a fan of the traditional dungeon crawl?

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